My wife Lynn and I (Kerry Messer) drove to the southern end of Cape Girardeau this morning to join with Kim Nash of the Parkland PRC. Together we attended Governor Nixon’s bill signing ceremony for SBs 20, 15, & 19. We were there to represent the Alliance for Life – Missouri, the State’s largest network of PRCs.
Thanks to Senator Bob Dixon who led the way along with Representative Eric Burlison, and a long list of House and Senate members and leadership – Gov. Nixon signed SBs 20, 15, &19 into law this morning, reauthorizing Pregnancy Care Centers’ tax credits!
Pro-Life citizens, and anyone concerned about the State’s financial strains or priorities, needs to express thanks to these leaders who not only had the vision to continue pushing for these benevolence tax credits, but also had the willingness to forge ahead even when many people still do not understand the difference between benevolence tax credits and business tax credits! These benevolence tax credits (in contrast to abused business tax credits) do NOT enrich politically connected “white-collar” contractors – but encourage average taxpayers to support PRCs at a net savings to the State budget.!
Thank you – Senator Bob Dixon, Representative Eric Burlison, House and Senate Leadership from Senators Tom Dempsey & Ron Richards, Representatives Tim Jones & John Diehl, the several other sponsors of similar bills, and the vast majority of House and Senate members who voted to send this legislation to the Governor in the first place!
Roughly explained, for every dollar provided as a tax credit at least two dollars of private donations (many never even apply for the credit) support private agencies. The clients who benefit from the various private benevolent services of these many agencies would otherwise be adding a direct strain to State run programs that are much less financially efficient, operated with absolutely NO volunteerism, and supported by forced taxation that violates the base principles of benevolence while instituting direct socialist tax policy. Unlike many abused business tax credits, not a single individual or corporation makes a profit from these type of benevolence based credits.
God’s Word says the purpose of government is to punish the evil doer and to reward those who do good. Using tax policy to encourage and reward people to do good is wholly appropriate when it does not create a socialist redistribution of wealth. Benevolence tax credits helps alleviate the pressures on government to develop more socialism. We are thankful for those many lawmakers who understand the need to push back against the overwhelming tide of tax policies that are destroying our financial culture and undermining the Biblical free market principles that have helped to make this the greatest and strongest nation in the history of the world. If we lived in a perfect world there would be no need for even private benevolent agencies much less such tax credits. However, we are compelled to face the realities of our culture and our place in the timeline of human history. Thus we say “thank you” to those who have made today’s events a reality!
Kerry Messer
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